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Abbott Laboratories (ABT), with a market cap of $178 billion, manufactures and sells a wide range of healthcare products across pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, nutrition, and medical devices. The North Chicago, Illinois-based company is slated to announce its fiscal Q2 earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, July 18.
Ahead of the event, analysts are expecting ABT to report a profit of $1.10 per share, up 1.9% from $1.08 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has met or surpassed Wall Street's bottom-line estimates in the past four quarterly reports. Abbott surpassed the consensus EPS estimate by 2.1% in the most recent quarter, driven by robust sales in its medical devices segment, particularly its glucose-monitoring product.
For fiscal 2024, analysts expect ABT to report EPS of $4.62, up 4.1% from $4.44 in fiscal 2023. Looking forward to fiscal 2025, EPS is expected to grow by 10.8% annually to $5.12.
ABT saw a decline of 4.6% over the past 52 weeks, which lags behind both the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 24.3% rise and the S&P 500 Healthcare Sector SPDR's (XLV) 8.9% gain over the same period.
Abbott Laboratories' shares fell 2.8% on Jan. 24 due to its 2024 profit forecast falling short of Wall Street's expectations, despite meeting Q4 earnings projections. Concerns about future competition in its electrophysiology products and declining COVID-19 testing revenues also contributed to investor unease. Similarly, on Apr. 17, the stock dipped nearly 3% as investors reacted negatively to the company maintaining the upper end of its annual profit forecast rather than increasing it further despite beating Q1 profit expectations.
Analysts' consensus rating on Abbott stock is bullish, with a "Strong Buy" rating overall. Among 20 analysts covering the stock, 14 recommend a "Strong Buy,” two have a "Moderate Buy" rating, and four give a "Hold" rating. This configuration is more bullish than three months ago, with 13 analysts suggesting a "Strong Buy."
The average analyst price target for ABT is $125.50, indicating a modest potential upside of 22.6% from the current levels.
On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
